Fun in the Sun (Closed)

[Zerith]

“Seriously Zerith, I really don’t think this is a good idea. You’ve just gotten married and now you suddenly decide to pick a fight in the Citadel? Jasmine is going to be so pissed at you when she hears about this!”

A low, audible groan escaped the halberdier’s lips as he rubbed his forehead. He really didn’t want to have to endure anymore of his friend continuously voicing his opinion, but deep down he knew that it was just like Zevernus to always state his opinion. Yet, he was tired of it today. After putting up with it all morning, it wasn’t until now in the mid afternoon that the warder’s vast amount of patience was quickly growing thin. Sapphire eyes looked up at the massive building before him, marvelling at the behemoth that was the Citadel. Somewhere, he had heard that not even adamantine could scratch the building. Truely, the building was a place that everyone on Althanas should see for themselves.

“You just don’t get it, Zevernus,” the halberdier responded as he continued towards the grand entrance. “I know I should probably be spending time with my wife, but you forget that she’s pregnant.”

The swordsman laughed, “Yeah, you only mention it daily! Don’t you think it would be a bad idea to enter the Citadel if she was pregnant? You wanna know what kind of people are in there? I’ll tell you what kind, the kind with death wishes.”

“How the hell would you know, Zevernus!?” Zerith yelled as he spun around furiously. “You’ve never even been in the damn building. It’s impossible to die there; the monks just raise you back up and heal you after your match is done. If anything, this is the perfect place for me to do this.”

Shocked, the best friend took a few steps back. “Geez man, I’m sorry if I struck a nerve, but what exactly is this thing you apparently need to do?”
Shoulder slumped forwards, the halberdier took a long, exasperate sigh, “I guess you could say I’m kind of scared, Zevernus. Jasmine’s an adult and can hold her own, so I feel like I have a little breathing room when it comes to trying to protect her from anything. Yet now she’s going to have a baby, and do you know what that means? It means I’m going to have to protect a small, defenceless little child and any error I make can lead to its death.”

“Yeah, but what are you really getting at?”

Shaking his head slightly while taking a deep breath, Zerith turned around and slowly continued into the Citadel. “I guess I’m just not so sure I can do it without screwing up. At least not right now.”

***

The heat was absolutely merciless, a feeling similar to when one would leave their house in the middle of a heat wave and have that wave of humidity hit them like they had run into a wall. The bright, blazing sun had reached its zenith, and with it also came the threat of losing your mind to the hot temperature. Across the vast desert of sand, not a single thing stood out for miles. Though far to the east one could carefully make out what appeared to be a mountain range. Standing with his feet partially sunk into the soft ground beneath him, Zerith took this all in and immediately came to one solid conclusion.

Today, he would be fighting in Fallien.

He could already feel himself start to sweat, and the humidity made it a little difficult to breath. His right hand tightened its grip on his halberd, and part of him wondered how long it would take for the sun to make the titanium blade feel hot to the touch. He chuckled a little afterwards, realizing that such a thing shouldn’t be his concern, but rather his opponents’.

Hopefully, the other combatant would arrive soon. Otherwise he would only find himself fighting against the brutal desert, and that was a fight he knew he wouldn’t be able to win.

[uttam123]

Shade was walking back toward The Citadel again in the scorching heat with his best friend Max the eagle of a thousand names. “Hey Max how many times have I been to The Citadel for now in the heat? ” Shade said jokingly since he already knows the answer. “Id say about hmm 1…2…3... all of them” The eagle said flying from the perches of the few trees left before the scorching heat blurs them out. Shade said “oh yah all of them, but this beats them all it’s the hottest”.

“Hey Max go get information on our opponent now” Shade said in a commanding tone before the multi-colored eagle could reply. “It’s already done sire” Max said flying to the advisors area of Radasanth.

A few minutes later Max swoops in and lands on Shades arm and says slowly” he just got married, he wields a titanium halberd, and he got his wife pregnant some time ago”. Shade was drinking a glass of water and spit it out when he heard the last line and started laughing so hard he crushed the glass to small pieces. After Shade calmed down a bit he said” he got his wife pregnant and then started a fight in The Citadel” Shade cleaned his mouth and continued “he must be a piece of work”

Shade crossed the line to The citadel and thought “no turning back now”. The sun was scorching, but the wind was blowing furiously so it didn’t bother him much at all. Max perched on top of Shades shoulder said calmly “I sense a very dark aura coming from deeper in the desert”. “ I told you already Max he’s a piece of work “ Shade said calmly with no sense of alarm in his voice.

Shade saw a blur in the scorching desert heat and said calmly “say no more Max”. Max nodded slowly and stayed perched on top of Shades shoulder.

Shade got closer and gazed at the “piece of work” he’s been talking about. As he gazed at him slowly his eyes glittered lambent-like. “Your as short as they can get are they”? Shade said jokingly as he sat down eyeing his opponent’s weapon closely.

“This scrawny little piece of work made a girl pregnant” at the thought of this Shade laughed out loud inconsiderately.


“Sorry about that” Shade said clearing his mouth “what are the rules of the match and any restrictions on skills or weapon choice “. Shades emotions were down and on the low side which is good he thought to himself, if his emotions barreled over his dark self will be released, then all will be quiet and Shades opponents wife might become a widow.

[Zerith]

Zerith's initially reaction to who his opponent turned out to be one of disbelief. Never in his life had he seen someone as tall as the one before him, and his attire made it difficult for the Warder to identify what race the stranger was. His eyes glittered in a peculiar fashion, and when the being broke out into laughter for no apparent reason, the halberdier looked at him with a quizzical expression.

“Well isn’t this just my luck,” the halberdier thought to himself. “I decide to go to the Citadel to find an ego boost, and I end up facing a giant of a man.”

Sighing deeply, Zerith tilted his head to the left as he thought about the question given to him. Somehow he suddenly found himself with the power to govern the rules of the duel would be. At first, his mind began to formulate ways of trying to exploit it to his advantage. Forbidding the use of magic sounded appealing at first. It would make the battle a test of skill, which was something the halberdier felt confident he had the upper hand in. Yet the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he wanted to earn a victory the hard way. He needed to go against everything this stranger held in his arsenal. At least that way, if Zerith did come out the victor, he would be certain he deserved it.

"The rules are simple, the first one to fall before the desert gets the better of us loses,” he began. “All of your weapons are permitted for use, as are any skills you possess.”

Shifting his weight, the Warder quickly wiped the sweat from his brow and assumed his normal fighting stance. His left arm moved to grip Amenzanil as well, yet he opted not to charge. Whoever this person was, he was till an enigma to Zerith. So the halberdier figured the wiser choice to be to give him the first move. Then, once he had something to go with, Zerith would decide how to counter effectively.

Besides, what was the worst thing this giant could do? Sit on him?

“Whenever you’re ready, stranger,” Zerith called out as a cocky grin began to form on his face. Excitement was beginning to flow though him along with that sweet moment of anticipation. As if it knew the battle was about to begin, the wind died and sands stood still.

Who knew? Maybe he would come out the victor afterall.

[uttam123]

Shade Snickered “half-giant actually “as he tested the sand for any traces of quick sand and/or poison. “This will be fun shorty “Shade said as he tapped the man on the head with his humongous finger. “Anyways the desert wont get the best of me and ill show you why soon” Shade said testing the environment which included the few trees not burned up and a few rocks then of course the round ball of death the sun “Max chell”. Then the eagle perched on top of Shades shoulder flew into the sunset magnificently.

He walked back 10 meters so far that only a blur of the challenger was left in his view. Shades palms started to glow a chilly, ice cold blue, his eyes started to change from green to blue and he formed an ice chair fit for a king.

Shade sat down and shouted “Come get me this is my first move” he said this very calmly trying not to raise emotions and tensions.

Shade felt a pain in his heart like the Dark Lord itching to get out and have a shot at the “piece of work”, but the young elf canceled out his dark self and tried not to show it in his face.

Shade threw a cocky grin on his then just a grin as his thoughts collided trying to pick a choice that fits this battlefield. Shade then took his daggers out of his holsters started sharpening them on some rocks on his side. Still awaiting the second move by the halberdier.

Shade was in distress in his burning brain hotter then the sun itself, he was on the verge of turning into his dark self then he was also on the verge of turning into a human martyr. Shade just didn’t like his chances now. He was planning formulas at 1 million times an hour on a chance to exploit weaknesses of the opponent warrior. He had 4 plans to go on: 1st being physical with little range, 2nd being range with little physical, 3rd being physical with a little more range, and lastly 4th being guerrilla tactics which includes his poison and fast movements.

Shade decided to mix and match all of those to confuse the halberdier "hope this works" he thought a little bluntly.

Shade was afraid in his brain that he was going to fast and he should slow down, or afraid of this battle ending up like another Citadel battle before, or maybe being a one-sided battle. He swallowed all tensions up and focused on the battle from a standing point of his.

Only time can tell what will happen now.

[Zerith]

Surely this stranger couldn’t actually be serious, could he? The Warder had been gracious enough, albeit for his own reasons, to let him make the first move. So he decided to take the opportunity and make a chair out of ice? The action seemed to be absolutely pointless. For even when he sat on it, Zerith could already see that the improvised seat was beginning to melt away quickly. Maybe the sun had gotten to the giant much faster than Zerith thought was humanly possible, leaving the man in a world where he thought there were trees around and the sun was setting in a majestic display of colour. Hell, maybe the sky was bright pink too and instead of water, the ocean was full of butterscotch Salvarian ice cream.

Well if the stranger just wanted to sit on his frozen throne for less than an hour before it turned into a puddle, he would be very disappointed. Though the initial thought of just crossing his arms and watching the chair melt appealed to the halberdier, he knew better than that. Besides, if his opponent didn’t have the courage to make the first move, Zerith did. It was probably time for the giant to be brought back to reality anyways and join the Warder in the empty desert in the middle of the day.

Zerith moved, slowly approaching his opponent’s throne. As he walked, he could feel his feet sink into the sand a little with each passing step, along with the minor difficultly that came with its traction. Those green eyes remained fixed on him, analysing him. Not to mention that arrogant grin from the elf continued to stay plastered on his face. What on Althanas was he so smug about anyways? Perhaps he had just never fought against someone who knew how to use a polearm. If that was the case though, then he would have to quickly learn to adapt. Otherwise he’d just be food for the vultures.

As he closed the final few feet of his approach, Zerith looked at his metal blade and shifted his arms ever so slightly. It was a tactic he used against Asuka Murakama back in the Serenti, and he was sure it would help him here as well. The sun shone brightly above, and the warrior utilized this by reflecting its rays off the shiny titanium and into the eyes of his opponent. Unknown to the elf, behind the bright light aimed in his face a half grin formed on Zerith’s face when he registered the elf was finally in his much longer reach.

The next movement happened extremely quickly. As without warning Zerith’s arms moved yet again. Shortly after being pointed forwards and pulled back, the halberdier thrusted the sharp spear tip of Amenzanil forward towards the man’s chest with enough force to ensure any normal man would stay seated for good.

“You may be taller,” Zerith told himself, “but I’m the one with the much longer reach.”

[uttam123]

Shade watched as his opponent grew more confused as what he was doing and thought perfect. His opponent was getting closer but Shades eyes and body stayed plastered on his opponent and the chair. Shade was focusing on his opponent as he grew much closer, Shades anticipation rocketed at a break-neck pace, awaiting war at any moment. Shades eyes glowed ice blue, his palms glowing blue like Antarctica Shade made an ice cup. With the ice cup Shade took some water out of the melting ice chair and drank it. Desert intimidation tactic #1: Get something to refresh the opponent can’t get.

Shade then saw his enemy slowly move his metal blade countered at the sun. At this moment the soles of Shades eyes glowed dark like his name, the palms of his hands glowed shadow-like, he made a mirror that reflected the sunlight back his opponent. Shade crushed the mirror after this and jumped in the air escaping the halberd by mere seconds.

Shade saw that the halberdier was at a stand still after his attempted strike. So he was planning a counter-strike. After he planned it, he took his daggers out of there respective holders and ran forth aiming at the spine of his enemy. Shade then jumped over his opponent elegantly in a crescent motion, jumping carefully to avoid the armed halberd and landed and crushed the chair splitting it into little pieces burned up by the sun extremely fast. Shade then thrusted his daggers at his enemy at the chest and lower forearm.

As all this happened he was afraid his opponent would figure out his attacks and try counter-attacks, but Shades mentor always said “if the opponent can scare you, swallow your feelings and scare them”. Shade swallowed his feelings and faced his opponent. “I was trained very carefully, its best to be patient and find out possibilities slowly” Shade said calmly waiting to see what the enemy did.

Shades heart throbbed, the Dark Lord itching to get out. Shade thought “Ill never give my body back to the Dark Lord” he said as he tried not to show the pain in his face. As Shades brain worked furiously he looked around at his surroundings looking for any piece of advice that might give him ways to use guerrilla tactics more and more.

Shades forehead was burning in anticipation, he was too pumped up to think much anymore, which in his case was very good. Something to cool Shades head down was always good.

He then watched and waited for his opponents next move.

[Zerith]

Although he wasn’t exactly sure how one could make a mirror out of shadows, the action must have distracted Zerith long enough for the elf to jump from a seated position and avoid the blow. The metal crashed into the frozen throne, completely shattering the back of the chair in the process. While naturally, the halberdier would have turned around on the basic assumption of that being the most obvious direction he would be attacked from, he was lucky enough for his opponent to land in front of him instead. Yet the attacks that were delivered against him were just as vicious as any other.

The first blow aimed at his chest was the easiest to deny. A simple movement with his arms, and the crimson shaft of Amenzanil struck the side of Shades arm, causing the knife to cut through nothing but the air beside the Warder. The second blow however, did strike his forearm. Yet the steel blade was no match against the combined demonhide and titanium that were Zerith’s spiked bracers. A small slice through the hide, but the steel couldn’t cut through the solid metal beneath the black material. With the sudden increase in action, Zerith wasn’t even aware of the fact he was grinning when he realized something. Despite all of Shade’s efforts and energy, he achieved absolutely nothing.

“Indeed,” Zerith replied to the comment the giant said to himself. “As now I know you dual wield daggers, can form ice and shadows and are quite the acrobat. Yet, you have no idea what I can bring to the table.”

It was clearly intimidation. Absolutely true, but still just a way to try and make the tall elf shake in his boots. The reality was that although he may not have intended to, Shade had already revealed much more about his skills than Zerith did. As far as the dark assassin knew, the only thing Zerith could do was use his halberd.

The halberdier’s hands moved swiftly, with the grace and percision only a master of using such a weapon possessed. Twirling the large polearm between them, he essentially forced his opponent to take a step back or be caught in the whirlwind of motion. Around and around the halberd spun, so fast that one could hear it slicing through the air. The whole display lasted only a few brief seconds, but when he finally felt he had gathered enough momentum, Zerith went on the offensive again.

Suddenly, he kicked his right foot in the air, sending a wave of sand up and into the face of Shade. Right behind the improvised distraction, the keen edge of Amenzanil’s blade was brought around in a wide, horizontal arc from right to left. So much power was put into the attack that even if Shade tried to deflect or parry the blow with his daggers, there was a high likelihood they could be damaged or destroyed.

“Just try and block this. I dare you.”

Note: The following attack is listed under "Shatter" in Zerith's character profile. While it can essentially break steel if given the chance. To prevent powergaming, the overall effect the attack will have is up to you, Uttam.

[uttam123]

umm you forgot about the attack i made behind you on your back before i jumped, but thats no problem for me

Shade expected nonetheless from the halberdier. “Good job” Shade said as nothing happened to the halberdier from Shades array of attacks.

There was a ding in Shades head and he immediately kneeled down as per Alganian culture he can not do any violence or anything to that extent for 5 minutes, known as the “holy period”. As he kneeled he escaped the sand thrown at his face by the enemy.

“Oh really” Shade thought “At this time this happens, me and my religious self” as he face palmed himself. Shade then felt extreme pain on the right side of his chest, then while he was squirming from the extreme pain there was a hit from the left side which had enough force to make roll all the way to the left side until he face planted into a rock.

Shade had to keep an up beat attitude or else there was a very rare chance the Dark Lord might come out through his emotions.

Shade was paining everywhere hopefully the enemy might not come for another attack for 3 more minutes.


3 minutes later…

Finally Shade thought I can stand up again. He examined his many bruises here and there, If the armor had not been there it might’ve been over, but since it was there was a few massive bruises and a scar that runs through the left side of his chest.

“It’s my turn now” Shade pretending the immense amount of pain was not there. Shade then cloned himself getting ready for a double attack.

The clone got in front of Shade and they both ran towards the halberdier, seconds later the clone hit the forearm Shade scratched before, then so did Shade seconds later. They both jumped over and clone hit it again, with Shade following again, but if the halberdier counter-attacked or blocked the clone would take the hit and Shade would be open for a direct hit at the head.

After this happened Shade ran a little more watching and waiting for the great halberdiers reply to the 5 minutes of torture he felt.

What Shade was worried is that his running was damaged; he might not have enough speed to use his daggers properly.

“So o great one how did it feel to be the pain, then feel the pain?” Shade asked in a crappy reporters voice.

[Zerith]

My apologies, but I do believe you said he was 'aiming' at the spine and not slashing or thrusting. If you could please be a little more specific, it would help to avoid these little misunderstandings.

The behaviour of the elf was confusing. When he suddenly kneeled for no apparent reason, Zerith’s initial thought was that he was going to plead for mercy and concede the fight to him. Yet it was too late to stop the momentum, and the titanium blade crashed into Shade just as the Warder imagined it would. The force behind it was shocking, sending the elf rolling away until he came to an abrupt stop. With a minute or two of peace, the halberdier took the time to wipe the sweat off his face and palms. He also seized the chance to catch his breath as well. The combination of the strenuous encounter and the desert heat was slowly draining the two of them. Now Zerith remembered why he never bothered going on another trip to Fallien.

By the time the elf managed to find the strength to climb up and onto his feet, Zerith was more than ready to get back into the swing of things. Swinging his left arm around in a wide circle to stretch, the Warder flashed Shade a smug grin of his own, “Another blow like that and I’m afraid this fight will be over for y-“

The halberdier stopped just before finishing his sentence when much to his surprise, his opponent managed to clone himself. As quickly as he could, Zerith tried to lift his halberd up to defend himself, but by the time he did it was already too late. With an incredible amount of speed, both giants closed the distance and began delivering a flurry of slashes at the halberdier. Valiantly, Zerith did his best to defend himself, managing to parry some of the blows with Amenzanil and his spiked bracers. But he couldn’t stop them all, and felt the daggers slice through the shirt that covered his torso. Wincing in pain, a loud groaned escaped the Warders lips when the real Shade finally retreated back. This left a battered Zerith staring at the ground and leaning on his halberd for support.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments after the elf questioned how his opponent felt after what he claimed to be five minutes. It certainly didn’t feel like that much time had passed. No, the elf must have exaggerating. Quietly at first, laughter brought an end to the quiet moment and from there it only grew louder. Incredibly, it wasn’t Shade that was laughing though. It was Zerith.

“How do I feel?” the halberdier repeated as he finally looked up, smiling. Grabbing the bottom of his shirt with his left hand, he pulled it up and revealed the chainmail he wore underneath. “I feel good, though really sore at the moment. You really are a stupid, silly little coward. Did you honestly think your little daggers could cut through these solid rings? For all of your effort, all you managed to do is cover me with large bruises.”

Suddenly, the halberdier lashed out with his halberd to his side where the clone still stood closeby. The titanium blade finally came to life and revealed some of its true nature. Bolts of electricity danced and crackled along the shiny metal surface as he flew through the air at a surprising speed, intent on cutting the mirror image in two. Shade was too far away to protect his little clone, and Zerith was willing to bet that once he got the imitation out of the way, this elf was suddenly going to learn he was running out of tricks. Yet the halberdier on the other hand, still had the majority of his.

If he could fight like this, maybe he would be able to protect his baby afterall. Perhaps he had just suffered a brief moment of weakness before coming here. Yet he didn’t feel weak anymore, he felt strong and powerful. Hell, he was managing to fend off a giant elf on his own.

Just like that, Zerith began to feel his self-confidence rising again, and it felt teriffic.

[uttam123]

Shade was happy then sad all at the same time. “Those bruises have poison in them, they were cut by my poison daggers, you’ll start feeling weak, nauseous, and finally it will sap your energy” Shade said proudly. Shade saw the halberdier laugh and started laughing a little himself. Shade spoke bravely “stupid, little elf too you, but what I did is very smart you’ll see why soon enough”. Shade then saw the massive halberdier lash out with his halberd at his clone. The clone simply moved back to where Shade was, taking minor damage which will damage his running by quite a bit. “That 5 minutes was called the holy period, in Alganian culture it happens everyday to symbol peace” Shade said then licked his lips and continued “ you got those lucky hits because if I didn’t do the holy period I would be cursed for 15 years” he finished.

Shade was formulating a plan to win this battle without anymore brain damage then usual. He thought of a few ways, but chose one in personal.

Shades eyes turned black like the beating sun, his palms darkened just the same, he made a spear of darkness. Shade then armed the spear and threw it straight at the head of the halberdier. Shade and his clone then ran straight at the halberdier armed and ready for an assault. Shade moved first and threw all 10 of his throwing knives, and then he stabbed both his daggers into the halberdiers head without a hesitation. The clone did the exact same thing, and then the clone stayed behind the halberdier waiting for any strike from the halberdier readying to grab his weapon the halberdier cares so much about.

Shades eyes glowed repeatedly; it felt like the sun was picking his eyes out of his sockets. Shades head was burning, his dark self itching to get a shot out him, Shades inner soul was most likely abruptly dyeing. His heart and soul was tired from the Dark Lord beating at it waiting to get out.

Back to reality Shade waited for the halberdiers answer. Shade could feel his own daggers beating; they too felt the same anticipation and eagerness for something more intense.
The anticipation and eagerness was the same to him as when his sister promised him a priceless gift when he was 18.


Dream

She waited for that moment to tell me that my dad wanted me to have this gift for my 18 birthday. She opened the box that had bright red curls, and she showed me too steel daggers. I was so grateful for them I could finally become an assassin. She told me to never lose these and always have them; these daggers are like our dad watching over you. She then handed them to me and I ran outside into the woods and started practicing immediately eager for the best.

Reality

“So halberdier, you think you can fulfill my daggers thirst for war” Shade said licking the sides of his daggers.

[Zerith]

I'm sorry man, but due to the restriction that Letho seems to have given you regarding your clone. I'm afraid that since it did take some 'minor' damage, it has to disappear. So I'm just going to assume Shade made the barrage of attacks himself if that's alright. Also a little bit of advice, try to stick to only one or two attacks at a time per post. It's kinda unrealistic for someone to throw a spear, then 10 knives and then stab with two daggers without having some sort of reaction from the other person to stop the assault. I really don't want to come off as harsh or something, but I think if you just stick to one or two attacks it will seem more realistically possible and help you with your writing.

Zerith groaned at his pain and soreness he felt, despite his small success. The image of the clone vanished so quickly it was as if he suddenly evaporated due to the intense heat. Still, it was one more thing out of his way and it now gave him the chance to give his full ‘attention’ to the assassin. For some reason, Shade was still so full of himself and spoke in a proud, almost arrogant tone. So what if his daggers were poison? Yes, it was a dirty trick, but the blades didn’t break the Warder’s skin. So therefore there was no poison in his system. At least that was the logical conclusion in Zerith’s mind.

“This is going nowhere, I may as well just try to end this quickly.”

The dance of death continued on, Shade moving and Zerith reacting. This ability to manipulate darkness was visually intriguing, though part of the halberdier couldn’t help but wonder how one could create shadows in a place where the sun didn’t seem to allow any. In the end though, he concluded that it must have been some sort of unnatural, magical darkness the assassin wielded. A black, malicious spear took shape in his hands and although the weapon was beautiful in its own sinister way, The elf decided to throw it away. He wasn’t exactly throwing it in the trash, but the halberdier felt like he could have found a much better use out of it if he really tried.

Zerith managed to duck low enough that the spear flew harmlessly overhead and immediately broke out into a run afterwards. While in mid stride, he demanded his body to give him that necessary boost of strength and agility needed to bring this clash of Althanian David and Goliath to an end. However he wasn’t able to implement the skill his father taught him quickly enough, and felt the sharp stings of pain as two or three throwing knives cut into the side of his left leg. Yet he managed to suppress the instinct to voice his discomfort in a yell or shout, refusing to give Shade the pleasure of listening to it. Then Zerith’s sapphire eyes found his opponent again, finally managing to find the courage to charge the halberdier head on. Eagerly, the Warder’s body shifted to tackle his opponent in a full collision.

The deadly knives were once again no competition for the superior halberd. As with another simple swing of the polearm and his heightened senses of strength and agility, the Warder batted the blades away as if they were nothing but mere ordinary, annoying little flies. Disappointment followed shortly afterwards. As before Zerith could managed to attack back, Shade had somehow once again managed to retreat again. Seriously, the halberdier was really getting tired of this silly little hit and run tactic the elf was performing repeatedly.

A wide, obvious frown of disgust flashed across the warriors face as he watched the sadistic display of affection between Shade and his daggers. “No, but I do think you’re stupid for licking your “poisoned” daggers. If you’re going to ingest the poison, then you might as well just forfeit the match to me.” The frown turned upside down into a small smile as the halberdier suddenly thought of a good idea. “Better yet, go call that bird of yours to fight me. I bet even it will be more of a challenge for me than you are,” he taunted.

Zerith didn’t even bother to wait to see if the request was given to him. He ran again instead, and the effects of his increased attributes that still lingered sent him toward Shade at a speed that the elf would probably not expect the slightest bit. Still crackling with electricity, Amenzanil spun through the air effortlessly. Then the halberdier launched his attack, mercilessly bringing the blade down diagonally towards the point where Shade’s shoulder met his neck with the strength of not one, but four men.

“Hell, if I fought the bird, then at least I wouldn’t have to hear the constant blabber of someone who can’t accept they’ve been beaten by one with obvious superior skill.”

[uttam123]

Ill start off with this, the tips of my daggers are poison not the sides, then srry about the clone forgot about that part, I can do as much as I want since my guy is fast he so I can attack but I don’t go over three. They all are like that for intense 3 part attacks I like to call them. My poison scratched your skin which injects poison in the skin that goes through to the body and so on. But ill let it pass. Now ill start my counter-attack.

Shade was irritated of the plain blabber coming from the trying-to-taunt halberdier. He watched his clone vanish from the minor damage of his halberd. His enemy was moving quite well even though his poison was injected into the thick skin of the warrior. “Good job warrior, my spear was thrown quite hard and you must’ve moved with ease to evade it, then also you only took 3 of the throwing daggers, then blocked my strikes quite simply” Shade said as he clapped at the warrior block his own majestic attacks.

“Fool, my bird does not fight, I couldn’t bare it get hurt in battle” Shade said with only a tiny bit of sorrow.

He then saw the opponent move fast, Shade knew he could not escape it so he jumped and got hit from the side enough to crack a few ribs. Shade rolled all the way to the edge of the arena planned, his ribs aching.

“Damn I couldn’t avoid the crackling strike from his halberd” Shade thought being unable to move. Shade felt angry, sorrowful, sad, and then mad. That was all that he thought, his emotions over-took him, he was not Shade anymore.

The behemoths body started hovering in the air barely a few feet off the ground. The ground around the elf started shaking, rumbling, then all was quiet. Blinding light surrounded the giant starting from the head then to his feet. After the enraging seconds of piercing light, the goliath fell from the air and landed with a thud on the ground rattling the floor.

The behemoth picked himself up off the ground and laughed with murderous intent.

“The real fight starts now warrior” the Lord said waiting for an attack from the halberdier.

[Zerith]

It's alright, just relax. Look at this as a whole learning process. Normally, you should stick to the abilities your character has been approved to have in your profile. As suddenly turning into a dark self or whatever else could be seen as an attempt at powergaming, but I know it's a spoil pending approval by a judge and RoG mod so I'll let it slide. Think of it like Dragonball Z (i don't know if you ever watched it, I'm just using this as an example) and look and the difference in power Goku had when the series first started, and say when he was fighting Frieza as a Super Saiyan. At level 0, it's more likely a character would be the first example, and not the latter. I just really want you to learn and understand how some things work here from this experience, that's all. I really hope I'm not offending you.

Zerith couldn’t help but feel that familiar sense of pride as he was finally getting the admiration he so rightfully deserved. Sure, his opponent hadn’t done the wise thing and forfeited the match, but applause did seem like a small step in the proper direction. “Well a word of advice to you then. Mind your actions, because if you’re not careful you’ll find that those things you do care about may end up hurt, especially if it happens by your own hand.”

The advice couldn’t have been more suited for Zerith. The constant fears that lingered in the back of his mind of being unable to keep his family safe, not being able to protect them and avoid tragedy, as well as all the effort of searching for perfection were pointless; especially if it ended up robbing him of spending time wtih his child during his or her formative years. It all started to make sense now, like a veil had been lifted and the halberdier finally began to understand. As a father and as a daddy, there wasn’t a force on Althanas that would stop him from wanting to keep his baby safe. Yet as the child grew, a wise parent would teach them how to survive on their own and trust that their offspring would be able to stand on their own two feet. Besides, he didn’t have only his own strength to rely on when it came to keeping his baby safe. He would have Jasmine by his side every step of the way, and he couldn’t believe he had been so blind that he didn’t even see that.

During the small epiphany of the halberdier, something had managed to steal possession of Shade. Something even more sinister than the assassin took possession of the shell of the elf. Bathed in a light so bright it rivalled the sun above them, the monster somehow managed to make the sands tremble with its mere arrival. Shielding his eyes, Zerith could do nothing but wait until the light finally died down and the giant landed with such force that it nearly knocked the Warder off his feet. Sapphire eyes stared not at a mere giant elf anymore, but what he seriously believed was some demon possessing a weak minded soul.

The laugh was chilling, almost haunting. The halberdier even had to take a deep breath and calm his nerves as he realized he was now going toe to toe against this thing. Yet his self-confidence still remained and was stronger than it had ever been before. Wheels began to turn in his mind and Zerith started to try and formulate a plan, wondering if there was some way he could defeat this monster and let the assassin regain control of himself.

However, the only thing he could come up with was to try and beat the dark presence the good, old fashioned way with brute force. Zerith’s lips formed a small grin, as one of the many runes began to glow bright red. “Good,” the Warder answered. “It’s about time I should actually have to put forth some effort anyways.” It was another deliberate taunt as he believed the arrogance a demon could probably have would be one of its greatest weaknesses.

Since he was given the opportunity, Zerith seized it without hesitation. The red shaft of Amenzanil was instantaneously engulfed in fire as the Hel’toro rune answered its master’s call, yet it didn’t harm its wielder the slightest bit. The Warder charged forward again with the same unnatural speed he had earlier, twirling the halberd as he did. A loud whoosh! sound filled the air as the flaming halberd stayed in motion. Once he was close enough, Zerith leapt into the air and brought his shocking blade down on his opponents skull with such force he could probably lodge it so deep into bone that he would have difficulty pulling it back out afterwards.

As intimidating and unnerving as Shade’s sudden surprise was, Zerith saw the act exactly for what it was: It was just an act of absolute desperation.

[uttam123]

I think it might count as powergaming but im not sure exactly, ill keep trying and cut down on my beer count when posting


The Lord spoke as he walked around testing Shades body “fool Shade is my counter-part, he will never forfeit” he said chilling his voice. “Yours taunts mean nothing trash, I am the king of intimidation” The Lord said hearing the warriors taunting voice.

Shade was too confused, he played everything perfectly but still his emotions took the best of him and the Lord was released. He tried his best to communicate, but all of it was void so he took the matter into his own hands and tried to break the Lord from the inside. He screamed his voice and body grabbing at himself to get out, but nothing the Lord was too much at full power, “good luck halberdier Algania is with you” Shade thought as he fell into sleep.

The behemoth replied to Shades cry with a mere snicker. At this moment the halberdier rushed in and jumped up in the air, the Lord took this chance and jumped at the halberdier, avoiding his burning weapon he tackled the leg cut by Shades knives and landed back on the ground skidding far away from the enemy.

The giant laughed as he watched the enemy go down “get some skill then you’ll be a match for me trash”. The elf was calculating tactics to use against the warrior; he was mostly interested in the guerrilla tactics that scattered his brain. “Yes” he thought with interest “ill make him get so tired that he can’t even think straight for 10 days straight”.

“Hey trash if you’re this terrible how will you protect your wife and child?” the ogre taunted “You can’t anyways so ill kill them too after I finish your ass off” the elf finished his taunt, trying to enrage the warrior.

Shade said awaking in his head “You’re the trash Lord, just wait until I get out” he finished his taunt. Lord said his mind “Stay put, ill finish him off then you Shade” He ended a little bluntly. Shade thrashed around trying to get his body around, his desperation lighted his spirit and he banged even worse.

The Lord took the banging lightly and just let it pass. “Remember trash” the Lord said “Ill make your family suffer after this, so just take it lightly” he said as a attempt of intimidation.

[Zerith]

Don't worry about it, however I think it's about time this battle reaches a conclusion soon. I think it's really beginning to just drag on.

Falling flat on his back from the force of the tackle, the sand felt hot to the touch against his flesh. Despite the soreness that covered his body, and the heat exhaustion he was beginning experience, Zerith climbed back up to his feet as fast as he could. He was frustrated that his plan didn’t come to fruition and wondered just what miracle he would need to pull off in order to end the fight in his favor. Part of him wanted to do nothing more than just walk away, leaving the giant elf with an ego to match and roast in the sun. Yet the other part of Zerith, the one that strongly believed in the Thayne, Draconus, refused to give up. The Ancient was the definition of constitution and armour, the symbol of fighting against overwhelming odds and becoming the victor. No, Zerith couldn’t just walk from this ordeal. He would stand his ground and fight. Hopefully, it would make the Wyrm God smile if he could watch the match from the Antifirmament.

The threat against Jasmine and his unborn baby surprised the halberdier. Here he was, not even knowing the name of his opponent an now this beast suddenly revealed he knew about the Warder’s personal life? How was it even possible? The words that came out of the fiend’s mouth were effective, though they would have had a more severe impact on Zerith if they were uttered at the beginning of the fight. Still, the threat angered the halberdier greatly. Nobody dared to harm Jasmine or his baby. All of those that were foolish enough to try only met an unnecessary end beneath the rage and fury of the Warder.

“I doubt you would understand,” the halberdier answered. “I’m not alone when it comes to defending my family, because my wife and I are a team. So I don’t need to overwhelm myself and worry about trying to protect them from everything on Althanas anymore. Besides, I have more than enough skill to deal with some amateur assassin like you. Now if you don’t mind, I think it’s about time I end this.”

Going on the offensive once again, the Warder wrestled with the sand. Throughout the entire fight, the ground had severely hampered all the movement both combatants performed. Although with the increase in his attributes, Zerith was still moving at a much slowly pace then he was used to. So this time, rather than depend overwhelming his opponent with speed, he would surprise him with skill instead.

The flaming halberd once again performed its mesmerizing display while the Warder made his approach. However, he took his sweet time now, allowing uncertainty to cloud the elf’s judgement. Making the giant constantly second guess himself when it came to anticipating exactly where the halberdier was going to swing from. Zerith had repeatedly made the mistake of making the direction he was coming from too obvious, which made countering him far too easy. This time, he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

When he finally was close enough, Zerith made his move and swung at Shade’s left side this time. However, before the attack connected, he spun around counter-clockwise and brought the sharp blade of Amenzanil around in a wonderfully created sweeping motion. The blow, aimed up at Shade’s exposed neck, would probably be able to behead the man with ease. When it did, the evil presence that possessed Shade would soon find itself pushed back into whatever dark place he came from.

As for Shade, he would probably find himself waking up in the Citadel. The monks would fully restore him back into the shape he was in prior to joining Zerith in the desert, just as they did to everyone else who came to fight in their establishment. From there, he was free to do whatever he pleased in the body that was rightfully his.

Yet, all of this depended on if Zerith’s attack went exactly as he planned it to.

[uttam123]

The Lord snickered as the warrior fell on his back with a thud in the atmosphere. “Is that all you can do filth” The Lord laughed as he saw the enemy pick himself up “Shades little eagle picked up some info on you so I know all about you Zerith” he finished.

Shade was done; he wanted his body back badly. Shade started screaming his emotions boiling over into the depths of his body.

The Lord was still watching the warrior closely until there was a flash of light from his eyes happened dazzlingly, his head started rumbling like a rusty bolt, his soul was spilling out in the form of purple goo, “Shade you fool” the Lord while crumbling down in his own soul.

“It was working” Shade thought “He poured the rest of his energy into his soul and forced the Lord back.

The Lord uttered with his final breath “ill be back Zerith”. With that the Lord disappeared and there was a blinding light that flickered then brought to an end and Shades body fell. At this moment Zerith was on the move to attack, but Shade was unconscious in his own body so he hoped no harm would come to him while he was dreaming.

Finish for me
Spoils: Speed increased to average
New Aerobic Ability: Below Average
New Hand-to-Hand : Below Average

[Zerith]

Everything had happened so quickly. The internal struggle between Shade and whatever had taken control of him reached its climax while the duel on the sands drawing was quickly coming to an end. Another blinding flash of light caught the halberdier by surprise in the middle of his swing, forcing his eyes shut. Though unable to see what was happening, he felt a quick tug on his halberd as it caught something before it sliced through and continued on its course. The whole action lasted mere seconds, but it made quite the impact when Zerith finally felt he could open his eyes.

The headless body of Shade rested on the ground before, arms moving slightly as fingers continued to twitch sporadically while a steady flow of blood spilt out onto the sands. A few meters away lay the assassin’s head, his expression one of serenity as if he was sleeping. Perhaps it was appropriate for him to finally be at some sort of peace, especially after an ordeal like the one he just experienced. Now the dark lord couldn’t harm him, and probably wouldn’t be able to for awhile. Hopefully by the time the elf was restored to his former state he would learn how to deal with whatever he was struggling with. Only time would tell, and the halberdier would most certainly not be around to find out how that story ended.

“I did it,” Zerith exclaimed in disbelief as he struggled to catch his breath. Leaning on Amenzanil once more, he wiped the sweat from his face before he grinned triumphantly. “I DID IT!” he roared again, pumping his arms into the air and celebrated his victory.

Indeed, he had done it. The halberdier stood toe to toe against a giant of an elf and survived. He struggled against a clone, poison, even a malevolent presence possessing the assassin and still came out being the winner. If he could achieve a feat like this, he was certain that fatherhood was something he wouldn’t have any problem with. He didn’t need to worry about feeling inadequate, about being unable to protect his baby. Now he had proven that he was still skilled enough to win a match in the Citadel. Since he believed that some of Althanas’ greatest warrior came here, he felt safe to assume that this meant his child’s security wasn’t an issue anymore. At least not with him and Jasmine being there to care for the little blessing.

“Who’s the piece of filth now, eh?” Zerith asked the corpse beneath him. He chuckled to himself as he slowly turned around and limped away, leaving either the vultures or monks to deal with the cadaver. He couldn’t wait to tell Zevernus all about how the battle went. About the strange 'move' Shade made with the chair of ice, or how he created the clone and spear of darkness. Most importantly though, he couldn’t wait to tell his friend, and even Jasmine herself, that he found exactly what he came hoping he would find.

Confidence.

Concluding post. Good battle.

Spoils: None requested.

[Silence Sei]

Alright, I’m going to give a full run down of Zerith first, and then uttam. Just trying various methods for judging to see the best way to do it for me personally.

Zerith
STORY ~



Continuity (7/10) ~ Well, what can I say? Zerith is a family man. I am a bit concerned about just how much he leaves home to suit his flights of fancy though. I’ll get more on that in character though. I had enough background on the Z man to know what he was about and what he stood for. Good Job.

Setting (8/10) ~ Not only a good use of setting, but a good use of things your opponent created as well. I especially enjoyed the bit of chalking Shade’s ‘trees’ up to delusions in the giants head.

Pacing (4/10) ~ You and your opponent drug this fight out longer than it needed to be. Though I know you tried to wrap it up in your last two-three posts, I still felt that everything had gone on for far too long. Remember, in a citadel battle, you could always have Z say ‘know what, screw this’. It might cost you some points elsewhere, but it won’t be as badly docked as I did to you here, I don’t imagine.

Total Story Score Zerith : 19/30
• CHARACTER ~

Dialogue (3/10) ~ You and your opponent suffered greatly here. Mostly because the things you each said were so long winded typically that I could see the other performing an attack before the statement even got half way done. Shade doesn’t strike me as the type of character to wait around as you said things like “No, but I do think you’re stupid for licking your “poisoned” daggers. If you’re going to ingest the poison, then you might as well just forfeit the match to me.”, followed up by “Better yet, go call that bird of yours to fight me. I bet even it will be more of a challenge for me than you are,”. Remember, these are battles with people trying their best to calm you physical harm. Unless your character knows for certain it is a friendly match, it’s better to keep your sentences short and to the point. Those two sentences could have easily been summed up with. “No, but if you’re going to kill yourself, you could send me the bird to fight”. Sure, it’s just as long as sentence one, but it covers both sentences in one statement, something that I could buy Zerith saying without being struck at.

Action (8/10) ~ We had epiphanies, we had Dark Lords, and we had heads being removed from their bodies. All in all, I was quite satisfied.

Persona (5/10) ~ I felt as though the Zerith in this fight was much different from the one I’m questing with. This Zerith quickly became arrogant about his opponent, taunting him when (at that point) Shade had dodged and dived out of just about everything. From what I’ve gathered about Zerith, such things I would imagine make him a bit more cautious, having to think things through –without- slinging out insults until he thought that was the only way to goad his opponent into blind rage. You can always correct me if I’m wrong here via PM/IM
Character Final Score Zerith ~ 16/30
• WRITING STYLE ~

Mechanics (4/10) ~ Watch the homonyms. Using words like ‘wasn’t’ outside of dialogue gets you points deducted from me. Always use the full on term for the word in such situations. I would also try to find more ways to describe Zerith than just ‘Zerith’ or ‘The halberdier. ‘The noble’, ‘the warrior’ ‘The family man’, ‘the back-up king’. All of those describe Zerith well enough in my mind.

Technique (5/10) ~ Nothing too outstanding here. I did enjoy the David and goliath comparison though.

Clarity (5/10) ~ Some of your phrasings were awkward enough to warrant a second glance, such as the shining of the suns rays in your foes eyes. Once again, nothing too horrible, but there were a couple of re-reads in certain areas.

Writing Style Final Score Zerith ~ 14
Wild Card (8/10) ~ Though the fight was longer than needed, you did a great job being patient and not just totally dropping out with a newer poster. Furthermore, I had a sense of who Zerith was becoming more than anything else I’ve read about you. Our little halberdier is maturing. *sniff*

Final Score Zerith ~ 56/100

Uttam


Story ~

Continuity (3/10) ~ Shade just pops in the citadel, but I never really knew why. In fact, the only reason the score is a 3 is due to the fact that you mentioned a previous citadel battle not going so well. Try to incorporate more about your character’s story into the posts. Is Shade coming to the citadel to better himself? Is he looking for someone in particular? It’s also good (at least in the citadel) to make a reference or two to the last citadel fight you had in your opening post. So if Shade had fought Sei before Zerith, mention how Sei helped Shade try to overcome the Dark Lord, or how Sei’s defensive nature didn’t suit Shade’s fighting style.

Setting (2/10) ~ If your opponent had said that there were no trees, there were no trees. I let you slide with the rocks(it is a dessert, after all), but using trees that weren’t there was not slipping past me. Please try to use your foes settings as they have them laid out. IF you want to change the field a bit by, lets say having the sand below the two give way into a cavern, that’s fine. But you can’t just have trees appear to suit your characters need.

Pacing (1/10) ~ A major problem with you. Shade can’t do three attacks at one time. IT’s just not realistic. Three punches right behind one another I could deal with, as such a thing could happen in a real fight. But there is no way someone would stand around and let me do three completely different attacks when fighting me. Please keep in mind that your opponents are not training dummies, they’re people.

Final Story Score Uttam ~ 6/30

Character ~


Dialogue (2/10) ~ You constantly confused me as to whether or not Shade was talking. Please try to use quotation marks when your character is speaking. Also, using italics is handy when you want Shade to have internal monologue. If he’s struggling with the dark lord, either color the Lord’s spoken words, or make them bold or something.

Action (5/10) ~ Best area. You had a lot of action, but a lot of it felt unreal, especially considering your power level. Z’s comparison to Goku in DBZ is a good way to set your power base too. Or even better, use Gohan as an example. Level 0 starts off as a pansy physically, with an occasional good blow, but eventually they can get higher and start stomping mudholes.

Persona (2/10) ~ I had no clue who Shade is as a person, other than he prays, and fights the Dark Lord. Try to convey some emotion besides those two things. Does Shade think his holy regiment is frustrating? Does the Dark Lord scare Shade to the bone? I’m looking for answers to questions like that that you just didn’t provide.

Final Character Score Uttam ~ 9/30

Writing Style ~

Mechanics (1/10) ~ Same with you, watch the homonyms, use quotation makrs when speaking, and make sure what your character is saying would make sense if you said it out loud. You said English is your fourth language, well then imagine if any of your English friends would say the things Shades saying in the correct terminology. Also try to run your posts through Microsoft word or another spellchecker of some sort, it will help you out immensely.

Technique (2/10) ~ Maybe a lil bit of foreshadowing with the Dark Lord thing, but nothing as far as special techniques are concerned. Try to use foreshadowing and allusion a little more. Also, Antartica doesn’t exist on Althanas. The equivalent to that would be Berevar. Try to make sure you’re trying to stick with Althanas terms when describing countries.

Clarity (0/10) ~ Your weakest area. Please run your posts through spellcheck before submitting, and then re-read all of them to see if they make sense. I had to go back over each of your posts at least three times to completely understand things you did. That’s why this judgement took so long.

Final Writing Style Score Uttam 3/30

Wildcard (5/10) ~ I know you’re trying to improve, and it’s not going unnoticed.

Final Score Uttam ~ 23/100

Zerith wins and gets 1310 exp, and 100 GP

Uttam gets 125 exp and 25 GP.

Spoils are –not- approved, not even pending RoG approval. Such increases in skill needs higher scores, and even then three upgrades is very unheard of.

[Silence Sei]

exp-GP added.

First on my catch up with adding this stuff threads.